Writing Wrongs

*Warning: This episode contains descriptions of fraud and exploitation*

To what lengths would you go for love? A sweet selfie, thoughtful good morning texts, or late-night phone calls might come to mind. But what about sending over £10,000 to someone you've never met in person?

It might sound far-fetched, but last year alone, more than 8,000 people in the UK fell victim to romance fraud - losing money to scammers who preyed on their hearts.

In this episode of Writing Wrongs, Nicci and Tim are joined by criminologist Dr Elisabeth Carter to unpack the manipulative language of romance scams.

Together, they explore how scammers build trust, how victims are drawn in - and how you can protect yourself in the ever-evolving world of online dating.

More information

For a list of our sources and more information about this case, please visit https://www.aston.ac.uk/writing-wrongs  

Have a question for Nicci or Tim? Email us at [email protected] and we may answer it during an upcoming episode! 

Check out the official AIFL blog for more forensic linguistic goodies here: https://medium.com/@AIFLblog  

If you have been affected by any of the themes in this week’s episode, please contact one of these free sources: 

https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/  

https://www.helpguide.org/find-help  

Production Team: Sam Cook, Jordan Robertson, Neus Alberich Buera 

Sound: Sam Cook 

Visual design: George Grant 

Additional Voices: Sam Cook (Roger), Jordan Robertson (Camilla)

With our thanks to Dr Elisabeth Carter 

Resources 

Professor Tim Grant’s home page: Tim Grant - Aston Research Explorer 

Dr Nicci MacLeod’s home page: Nicci MacLeod - Aston Research Explorer 

Dr Elisabeth Carter home page: Dr Elisabeth Carter | Kingston University London 

Guide to spotting romance fraudsters: 

https://www.thamesvalley.police.uk/police-forces/thames-valley-police/areas/c/2020/a-guide-to-spotting-romance-fraudsters/ 

* Warning: This episode contains descriptions of abortion, murder and execution by hanging * 

Welcome to Series 1, Episode 1 of Writing Wrongs, a podcast from the Aston Institute for Forensic Linguistics where hosts Professor Tim Grant and Dr Nicci Macleod take a case-by-case look at the field of forensic linguistics in action.

This case covers Timothy Evans who, 75 years ago (9 March 1950), was hanged after confessing to the murder of his wife, Beryl and baby daughter, Geraldine.

However, 18 years after Evans’ death, linguist Jan Svartvik authored a publication calling the validity of Evans’ confession into question, and in doing so, coined the term ‘forensic linguistics’. 

If you have been affected by any of the themes in this week’s episode, please contact one of these free sources: 

https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/  

https://www.helpguide.org/find-help  

Resources

IMDB for BBC mini series Rillington Place https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5568438/?ref_=tt_mlt_i_2  

IMDB for film: 10 Rillington Place https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066730/  

Internet archive of Ludovic Kennedy’s book 10 Rillington Place https://archive.org/details/tenrillingtonpla0000kenn [available on sale from secondhand booksellers] 

Home page of Kate Summerscale author of The Peepshow The Murders at 10 Rillington Place https://www.katesummerscale.com 

The original text of the Jan Svartvik book The Evans Statements A case for Forensic Linguistics https://www.thetext.co.uk/Evans%20Statements%20Part%202.pdf 

Production Team: Sam Cook, Jordan Robertson, Neus Alberich Buera 

Producer: Sam Cook 

Visual design: George Grant 

Additional Voices: Sam Cook 

* Warning: Today’s episode contains descriptions of abortion, murder, and execution by hanging. * 

In this special bonus episode, we are delighted to have award-winning author Kate Summerscale in to chat with Tim and Nicci about her most recent book, The Peepshow: The Murders at 10 Rillington Place.

It takes a deep dive into the case presented in our first episode, Timothy Evans: The birth of ‘Forensic Linguistics’ and the murders linked to Evans’ neighbour John Christie.

If you have been affected by any of the themes in this week’s episode, please contact one of these free sources: 

https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/  

https://www.helpguide.org/find-help  

Resources:

You can purchase The Peepshow and any other of Kate’s wonderful books here: 

https://www.katesummerscale.com/  

Production Team: Sam Cook, Jordan Robertson, Neus Alberich Buera 

Producer: Sam Cook 

Visual design: George Grant 

With our thanks to Kate Summerscale

*Warning: This episode contains strong language and threats of terrorism and other violence.* 

In 2018, a crudely made bomb was found in a car park in central Edinburgh. Later, blog posts by an unknown author appeared on a Mexican eco-anarchist website, in both Spanish and English, claiming responsibility for said bomb.

Our own Professor Tim Grant was contacted by Police Scotland to build a profile of the author. Two years later, the police contacted Tim again after identifying a potential suspect.

Dr Isobelle Clarke (Lancaster University) joined Tim in using comparative authorship analysis to determine who may have been responsible for these posts.  

If you have been affected by any of the themes in this week’s episode, please contact one of these free sources: 

https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/  

https://www.helpguide.org/find-help  

Resources:

Professor Tim Grant’s home page https://research.aston.ac.uk/en/persons/tim-grant 

Dr Isobelle Clarke’s home page https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/linguistics/about/people/isobelle-clarke 

BBC Expert Witness episode about the case: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0fwyswv 

BBC News story about case https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-60402838 

Aston University 2022 press release about Karvounakis case https://www.aston.ac.uk/latest-news/linguistics-expert-aston-university-helps-police-scotland-secure-terrorism-conviction 

Production Team: Sam Cook, Jordan Robertson, Neus Alberich Buera 

Producer: Sam Cook 

Visual design: George Grant 

Additional Voices: Sam Cook, Neus Alberich Buera 

With our thanks to Dr Isobelle Clarke

Every sentence tells a story, every word leaves a trace.